A MWEE is organized into three main phases:
- Students research and discuss a watershed issue or problem in preparation for the field component.
- Students take action by observing, measuring, or collecting data during their outdoor experience.
- Students return to the classroom, reflect upon and analyze their project, and reach conclusions.
To learn more about the process of designing and implementing a MWEE refer to A Guide to Creating Meaningful Watershed Experiences.
To assess how well your proposed project meets the definition of “meaningful,” NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries developed a checklist based on a review of best practices in the research literature. The sources for each item on the checklist are provided in parentheses.